Not only have the Japanese grasped and mastered the art of
producing superb single malt whisky for the best part of 100 years,
they’ve also proved that they know a thing or two about blends.
Infact it’s very fair to say that in both categories they produce
some of the finest examples in the world.

One of their most notable distillery’s, producing both a
selection of sassy and seductive single malts and a bounty of mind
blowing blended bottling’s is Nikka.

Pungent and oily nose with lots of toasty, sweet oak. Some
malty notes begin to appear and the oak takes on a sawdusty, mature
demeanour. With time some spices amble through. The palate is
gentle and soft with citrus, mature honey and gentle smoke and
spices. It takes it’s time to unfold. Medium length with quite a
hot but spicy finish.

Blackcurrant Ribena, tingling and fragrant nose. A surprise on
the palate, full, peaty, and spicy. A long and peaty finish. A
savoury whisky to accompany smoked cheese or pickled fish.

This is a blended malt named in honor of Masataka Taketsuru, the
father of Japanese whisky. He is the first Japanese who mastered
whisky-making in Scotland and produced the genuine whisky in Japan.
Masataka learned that the natural resources surrounding a
distillery were essential for quality whisky. Based on his thought,
he selected two places, Yoichi and Miyagikyo, and built two
distilleries there. Its gentle malt flavor, fruitiness and
extremely well-balanced taste make it a perfect entry point into
the world of Nikka.

In general, blended whisky is created by mixing malt whisky
(malted barley distilled in a pot still) with grain whisky
(unmalted barley distilled in column stills, also known as Coffey
stills).

For this Nikka All Malt, the Japanese group Nikka used only
malted barley but distilled in both types of stills at their Yoichi
and Miyagikyou distilleries. It’s quite unusual to distill malt
whisky in a column still and the end result is a unique
product.

Nose: a very candied profile with marshmallow and vanilla. Some
lemon sweets. Ripe apples and cinnamon. Honey. A bit of creamy
toffee as well (hints of Baileys). Some tobacco, leather and the
lightest hint of smoke.

Mouth: a shy attack, very mellow and again very creamy. Barley
sugar. Notes of raisins. A bit too sweet maybe. Oily
aftertaste.&nbsp;

Nose: very strong flavours from both malt and from wood, mostly
middle-pitched, but also with a few high and low range pitches.
Vivid, clean, clear, strong, and beautiful. Water added brings out
fruit and flowers. Beautiful with water.

Taste: fabulous translation of the nose flavours to the mouth.
Remains a big whisky, with strong flavours from both barley and
from oak. Citrus is evident in the mouth. Is there any wine
influence? Maybe a small amount. Water brings out added sweetness
and bundles the flavours.

Finish: stays long and strong with a slow fade out. Water gives
a bundled finish which brings out both additional sweetness and
additional sourness.